Decision 2 — Seller entity: publish as an individual first
Recommendation
Do not form a company for the free launch. Use an individual account on each store, with the founders recording privately who owns the app and who controls the accounts. If a company becomes necessary later, the recommended fallback is a UK private limited company, provided the founders accept the UK registered-office and ongoing filing obligations.
What a free individual launch actually costs and publishes
| Store |
Unavoidable programme cost |
What the public sees for a free individual app |
Other launch gate |
| Google Play |
US$25 once |
Under Google's general personal-account rule: legal name, country derived from the legal address, and developer email. Monetisation triggers publication of the full legal address. Google also warns that regional rules can require extra public details, including a full address; an EU trader must therefore expect the DSA contact-information rule to override the free-app baseline. |
A personal account created after 2023-11-13 must run a closed test with at least 12 opted-in testers for 14 continuous days before applying for production access. The rule depends on account type and creation date, not price. |
| Apple App Store |
US$99 per membership year, shown in local currency where available |
The individual's personal legal name is the seller. |
App Store Connect requires a DSA trader-status declaration even outside the EU. Free does not automatically mean non-trader: Apple says business purpose and intention to commercialise are relevant. If declared a trader for an EU app, Apple publishes an address or P.O. Box, phone and email and requests payment-account details. |
Sources, all retrieved 2026-08-04: Google registration fee, [evidence archive — not published]; Google personal-account public fields and monetisation trigger, policy_google_play_verify_identity.txt, source https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/13628312; Google test gate, policy_google_personal_testing_reqs.txt, source https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465; Apple fee, seller name and conversion route, policy_apple_enrollment.txt, source https://developer.apple.com/support/enrollment/; Apple DSA requirements, policy_apple_asc_dsa_trader.txt, source https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/manage-compliance-information/manage-european-union-digital-services-act-trader-requirements.
This corrects the earlier incorporation argument. For a free Google personal listing, the baseline is legal name, country and email—not a full address. That removes the earlier claim that free publication by itself exposes the home address. It does not remove the separate EU trader issue: the DSA requires a trader's name, address, phone and email to be public, and Google's own identity page warns that regional rules can add a full address. Free price is only one fact in the trader assessment, so the founders must resolve the trader declaration before treating either store as an address-free route. DSA source: Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, proof/03_market/captures/policy_eurlex_dsa_2022_2065.txt, retrieved 2026-08-04, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32022R2065.
Company fallback comparison
Only use this table if payment, liability, joint ownership, contracting or a store-name requirement later makes an entity worthwhile.
| Structure |
Fully online and timing |
Formation cost |
Stripe |
Fit for the project owner and Serge |
| UK private limited company |
Online; Companies House says registration is usually completed within 24 hours |
£100 |
United Kingdom is supported |
Supports multiple shareholders and directors, including a two-founder cap table. It needs a UK registered office, identity verification, accounts and tax filings. Recommended fallback because it is the fastest, cheapest jointly owned company in this comparison. |
| Estonian OÜ through e-Residency |
Company registration is online and takes about 15 minutes to 1 hour once the e-Residency card exists; obtaining and collecting the physical card means the full journey is not entirely online |
€150 per e-Residency application, €265 company registration, normally €200–€400/year for an Estonian contact person, with accounting extra |
Estonia is supported |
Can hold two founders, gives an EU company and remote administration, but each active founder needs the digital-ID route and cross-border tax still follows where people actually work and manage it. |
| Stripe Atlas |
Online; Atlas says the Delaware company can accept payments within 2 business days |
US$500 once, including the first registered-agent year, then US$100/year |
A Stripe account is part of the route |
Handles co-founders cleanly, but creates a U.S. company, federal and state filings, and cross-border founder tax work that is excessive for a free kitchen timer. |
| French micro-entreprise / auto-entrepreneur |
French creation formalities are online through the single portal; the official page gives no guaranteed processing time |
Cost depends on activity; the structure avoids company statutes and capital |
France is supported |
One natural person only; no shared equity and Apple treats a sole proprietor as an individual seller. Simple for one founder, wrong for jointly owned publishing. |
| French EI |
Online through the same portal; the official page gives no guaranteed processing time |
The official comparison states €21.74 for a commercial EI |
France is supported |
One natural person only and no separate legal person. It does not solve joint ownership or Apple's individual seller name. |
| French SASU |
Online through the same portal, with no official guaranteed processing time; statutes, capital, beneficial-owner filing and a legal notice are required |
Official filing components shown in the comparison are €33.83 registration plus €19.33 beneficial-owner filing, plus the variable legal-notice cost |
France is supported |
One shareholder only. To put both founders in the equity, use a SAS rather than a SASU, with more drafting and administration than the UK fallback. |
Sources, retrieved 2026-08-04: UK online incorporation, timing and cost, proof/03_market/captures/rev_entity_uk_incorporation.txt, source https://www.gov.uk/limited-company-formation/register-your-company; Estonian process, time and service costs, rev_entity_estonia_start.txt, source https://www.e-resident.gov.ee/start-a-company/; e-Residency and registration fees, https://learn.e-resident.gov.ee/hc/en-gb/articles/360000625118-Costs-fees; Stripe Atlas timing and fees, rev_entity_stripe_atlas.txt, source https://stripe.com/atlas; Stripe country support, rev_entity_stripe_global.txt, source https://stripe.com/global; French online portal, rev_entity_fr_guichet.txt, source https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/R61572; French structure and filing-cost comparison, rev_entity_fr_ei.txt, source https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F23844; SASU structure, rev_entity_fr_sasu.txt, source https://entreprendre.service-public.fr/vosdroits/F37383.
Cost of incorporating later
- Apple: first ask Apple Developer Support to convert the individual membership to an organisation; Apple's enrolment page explicitly directs existing individuals to contact support. If Apple requires a transfer instead, create and verify the organisation membership, meet the app-transfer criteria, and transfer the app. The app stays downloadable and retains ratings, reviews and updates, but its bundle identifier stays permanent. Source:
proof/03_market/captures/policy_apple_enrollment.txt and policy_apple_asc_transfer_app.txt, retrieved 2026-08-04; https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/transfer-an-app/overview-of-app-transfer/.
- Google: the DSA account-type selection cannot be changed later, so create and verify an organisation account and submit an app transfer. Users, statistics, comments, ratings and subscriptions transfer; historical earnings reports and test groups do not, so the closed-test group must be rebuilt. Google says support reviews transfer requests within 2 business days. Source:
proof/03_market/captures/policy_google_play_dsa_trader.txt and policy_google_app_transfer.txt, retrieved 2026-08-04; https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6230247.
Starting free makes both migrations simpler because there are no products, subscriptions, receipts or entitlement servers to move.